EXCLUSIVE: After making his feature directorial debut on the timely financial crisis drama Margin Call, J.C. Chandor is setting up his followup. It’s called All Is Lost, a drama that is described as a man vs. nature drama that takes place on the water. Considering that one of the touchstones used to describe its single character focus is Jeremiah Johnson, it seems appropriate that Robert Redford is in talks to star in the film.

I’ve heard they have scouted Baja Film Studios in Mexico, the place with the giant water tank where James Cameron shot Titanic and where Michael Bay shot much of Pearl Harbor. The hope is to start production by next May. Chandor met Redford at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and was so taken by him that he wrote the movie around him. It’s really a one man show, a heroic character who braves the elements to survive. Like Margin Call, the film will be produced by Zachary Quinto’s Before the Door banner. Glen Basner’s FilmNation has begun making approaches to distributors, as have Cassian Elwes and Laura Lister. Elwes and UTA sold Margin Call at Sundance. Chandor’s repped by WME, Redford by CAA.